CAMP DAVID, Md.  Leaders of the worlds wealthiest nations opened the door Saturday to more government spending in Europe as way to revive the continents struggling economy, shifting away from the idea that the surest way to recovery was through strict fiscal austerity.

Meeting at the Group of Eight summit at Camp David, President Obama and his fellow leaders said they were committed foremost to creating jobs and growth, a shift, at least in emphasis, from previous gatherings dominated by German efforts to reduce high government debt through drastic fiscal reform.

In a joint statement, the leaders of eight of worlds richest countries said they would promote investment in education and infrastructure, as they also sought to rein in government debt. Obama, who has pushed for additional fiscal stimulus in the United States, said the new agreement affirmed the course his administration pursued during the financial recession at home. He said the move toward economic stimulus bolstered Europes chances of surviving the crisis.

The direction the debate has taken recently should give us confidence that Europe has taken significant steps to manage the crisis, Obama said in a brief statement to reporters outside his wooden cabin nestled in the leafy presidential retreat in the Catoctin Mountains. There is now an emerging consensus that more must be done to promote growth and job creation right now in the context these fiscal and structural reforms.

I simply cannot resist posting the final paragraph from the first page here. It is absolutely priceless:

==================

Obama administration officials were careful to emphasize that the other leaders did not gang up on Merkel during two days of meetings at Camp David. Obama, aides said, made sure to spend time informally with each leader, strolling with Merkel along paths and sitting with her on the porch outside the Laurel Lodge.

In a joint statement, the leaders said "they would promote investment (spending) in education and infrastructure.....".

Translated from the Eurocrap....."we are going to throw more money at the teachers unions and at the infrastructure unions so they don't occupy our city squares, smash store windows and picket our homes....and so they can return lots of laundered money to our campaign funds at election time."

He presented a chocolate birthday cake to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who turns 55 on Sunday. And Obama chatted up British Prime Minister David Cameron about the euro crisis as they worked out together on the treadmill, White House officials said.

How sweet. The WH is working overtime to show the cuddly, caring side of Barry.

Reminds me of a Danny Kay movie where the king takes a drink of poisoned wine and begins to choke. Those around him, scared for his majesty's health, try to make him drink MORE of the toxic drink in order to stop the gagging, he retches even worse with every sip and they become even more desperate that he drink the deadly drink to save his life.

One thing we can be sure of. The Germans are too smart not to destroy their currency , and with it their country. They’ve “been there, done that” before. So even if it looks like they’re suddenly printing and spending zillions of moola, it will be USA loans, probably through the IMF borrowing from the Fed. That makes the ultimate currency the USDollar that gets printed and debauched. Count on it.

16
posted on 05/20/2012 9:55:56 AM PDT
by faithhopecharity
(remember when "Four more years!" was a credible campaign slogan for an incumbent?)

[Chorus]
“You picked a fine time to leave me, loose wheel
With four hungry children and a crop in the field.
I’ve had some bad times,
I’ve lived through some sad times,
But this time the hurtin’ won’t heal.

You picked a fine time to leave me, loose wheel.

Yeah that makes sense: If you’re having money trouble, spend more money. That’s what my fellow die and I do ....
Gotterdammerung, here we come.
BLOAT

BALANCE THE BUDGET NOW! Want to know how much to cut. Well. that’s simple: If the deficit is $1.2 trillion, then the next federal budget should cut exactly that amount — maybe a bit more, just to be sure. NONE of that should come out of defense. Not one cent.

Keynes explanations of slumps ran something like this: in a normal economy, there is a high level of employment, and everyone is spending their earnings as usual. This means there is a circular flow of money in the economy, as my spending becomes part of your earnings, and your spending becomes part of my earnings. But suppose something happens to shake consumer confidence in the economy. (There are many possible reasons for this, which we’ll cover in a moment.) Worried consumers may then try to weather the coming economic hardship by saving their money. But because my spending is part of your earnings, my decision to hoard money makes things worse for you. And you, responding to your own difficult times, will start hoarding money too, making things even worse for me. So there’s a vicious circle at work here: people hoard money in difficult times, but times become more difficult when people hoard money.

The cure for this, Keynes said, was for the central bank to expand the money supply. By putting more bills in people’s hands, consumer confidence would return, people would spend, and the circular flow of money would be reestablished. Just that simple! Too simple, in fact, for the policy-makers of that time.

If this is the proposed definition and cure for recessions, then what about depressions? Keynes believed that depressions were recessions that had fallen into a “liquidity trap.” A liquidity trap is when people hoard money and refuse to spend no matter how much the government tries to expand the money supply. In these dire circumstances, Keynes believed that the government should do what individuals were not, namely, spend. In his memorable phrase, Keynes called this “priming the pump” of the economy, a final government effort to reestablish the circular flow of money.

44
posted on 05/20/2012 11:46:37 AM PDT
by Son House
(The Economic Boom Heard Around The World => TEA Party 2012)

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